


The Defiant One

by PendulumDeath



Category: Togainu no Chi
Genre: M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-03-02 02:22:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2796179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PendulumDeath/pseuds/PendulumDeath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps he would never be able to win against this man whose eyes' color reminded him of blood, but it still didn't mean that he would simply roll over like a dog and submit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Defiant One

**Author's Note:**

> [Togainu no Chi OST - Lacrimosa dies illa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LQ5bLvr1rA)

Akira's eyes were fixed on the door as a million thoughts went through his head.

Why hadn't Shiki locked the door?

Was he testing him?

If he ran away, would he be able to escape the man?

Did he even stand a chance?

As the questions kept piling up, he hesitantly shifted on the bed, but a jolt of pain shot up his spine and he ended up letting out a pained sound when he tried to get up. _Pathetic,_ he thought bitterly as images of the way in which Shiki had humiliated him flashed through his mind. He should've fought harder...

As he gazed out the window of the rundown apartment building in which Shiki had brought him, he realized that it would soon be dark, and even though he knew that it was dangerous to roam Toshima's streets during the night, a part of him was willing to take the chance.

Unfortunately, the fear Shiki had instilled in him kept him rooted on the spot. He'd experience fear before, but this man with red eyes and a chilling gaze made him tremble with dread whenever he thought about him. As though taking him against his will hadn't been bad enough, he'd also forced him to enjoy it and even beg for release. Akira felt disgusted with himself, and the more he thought about escaping, the more his eyes glowed with determination. With a defiant look in his eyes, he forced his weary body off the bed and limped his way to the small table to pick up his jacket. He couldn't let Shiki win.

He remembered something important though, so he placed the jacket back on the table and made his way to the bed where he sat down and lifted his shirt. Shiki had said those piercings were proof that Akira belonged to him. Revulsion raced through him as his fingers touched the cold metal, and without hesitation, he proceeded to unscrew and then pull them out from beneath his skin. It didn't matter that it hurt. If anything, the pain made him feel alive, as though by getting rid of them he could separate himself from this monster of a man. The blood seeping from the wounds didn't bother him, and with a hateful glare, he placed the two piercings on the bed, picked up his jacket and made his way to the door.

Once there, he stopped and listened carefully for any sounds coming from outside, but when he didn't hear anything, he pressed the handle. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when the door creaked, the sound reverberating down the hallway. Luckily, Shiki didn't spawn out of nowhere to strike him down, so he let out the breathe he didn't even know he was holding and quickly made his way down the stairs―or as quickly as he could considering he was fighting to withstand the irritating pain flaring from his backside.

Before stepping out of the building, he pressed his back to the wall and scanned the area, but when no one seemed to be around, he walked out and made his way through the alleyways. His heart beat wildly inside his chest each time he took a turn, and he couldn't help but look back every so often to check if Shiki was following him. He was aware that he was being slightly paranoid, but it was better than not paying attention to his surroundings. He could almost hear Shiki's footsteps resonating throughout the alleyway, but he knew it was only his imagination.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a cat crossed his path, and he needed a moment to calm down afterwards; it was ridiculous how he could change so much in the span of only a few days. His limbs shook with fine tremors, but he forced himself to move forward because he couldn't afford to waste any time. He didn't even know where he was going, but he assumed that if he went in a straight line, he'd eventually be able to get out of Toshima. After losing Keisuke, he no longer cared about clearing his name of the false charges. The only thing he wanted was to get away from there. Incessant shivers ran up and down his spine, but he kept on going, wanting to put as much distance between himself and Shiki.

"Keisuke," he murmured the name, sorrow seeping from his voice. "Keisuke, I'm so sorry." He knew that his friend wouldn't be able to hear him, but he felt the need to say it anyway. Feeling as though he could go no further without taking a few minutes' rest, he leaned against the nearest wall to catch his breath, but he was having a hard time breathing when all he could see was Keisuke's dead face contorted in agony each time he closed his eyes. "Keisuke..."

Out of nowhere, he heard a noise coming from somewhere on his right. His hand instinctively moved to grab the knife, but when he didn't find it there, he remembered that he'd lost it during his fight with Keisuke. Cursing under his breath, he broke into a sprint, but he soon came to realize that Shiki wasn't the one following him when he heard more than a pair of footsteps coming from somewhere behind him. He didn't have time to check who it was, not when he knew that he was much slower than usual because of the damage he'd taken during his fight with Keisuke and also because of what Shiki had done to him. He needed to run, run as fast as his tattered body allowed it before his pursuers―who were most likely Igura participants―got their hands on him.

Droplets of water started falling from the sky, and Akira hoped that the pouring rain would help mask the sounds of his footsteps. Unfortunately, the men seemed to be gaining on him, and no matter how hard he tried to speed up, his body couldn't go any faster. He took a sudden right, but he realized that he'd made a mistake when he came face to face with one of the men and a crowbar came crashing into his stomach. The impact knocked the air out of his lungs and his knees gave out under him, but before he could collapse on the ground he was grabbed by the arms and slammed into a wall by two men while the third one, the who'd just hit him, walked up to him, buried merciless fingers into his hair and yanked his head backwards.

"Check out this good-looking nii-chan we just caught," the man said, lips set into a nasty leer. "You've made us run for quite a while, so how about you make it up to us?"

Akira, who was still struggling to get some air into his lungs, ignored the question, but he ended up jerking in surprise when the man released his hair and those slimy fingers gripped his belt. Knowing exactly what they were planning to do, he tried to push himself away from the wall, but there wasn't much he could do with his arms pinned by the other two men. _No, no, no, not again!_ His vision brierfly wavered, but he shook his head and tried to focus on the situation at hand. He had to get away. Seeing no other choice, he raised his knee and tried to hit the man in the crotch area, but the guy jumped backwards, his ugly face morphing into one of pure rage.

"You fucking bitch!" the man growled out the words as he raised the crowbar to hit Akira with it, but before he could swing it, the prey they'd just caught had the audacity to kick him in the stomach. When his so-called friends broke into hysterical laughter, he felt the blood in his veins boil, and without hesitation, he threw away the crowbar, shoved a hand into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a switchblade. "You're fucking dead," he declared just as he avoided the second kick and swung his arm, the blade finally embedding itself into the bitch's stomach.

A strangled cry escaped Akira's lips as the blade pierced his skin and muscles, sinking deeper still before finally getting yanked out. The sounds of his rattling belt as the man unbuckled it nearly made him throw up, and before he even realized what he was doing, he spat the other in the face, but his eyes ended up going wide in horror when the man thrust the switchblade into his stomach again and again, until his jacket and pants ended up getting dyed crimson.

 _It hurts! It hurts! Hurts! Hurts!_ His vision swam, and all he could see was red, red, red. He chocked as his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood, and he assumed that he was hallucinating when he thought he heard sounds of footsteps, but just as his attacker was about to deliver the final blow to his heart, Akira saw the man's head fly and blood gushing out like a fountain from the now severed neck. He heard shrills coming from the other two men, but not even two seconds later, the sounds stopped, and with no one left to support his body, he ended up sliding down the wall, his eyes catching sight of the specter's face for only a moment before he lost the ability to raise his head.

"Foolish dog, you just got yourself killed."

"F-fuck you," was Akira's acerbic reply, his voice barely above a whisper. As soon as he finished saying those two words, more blood poured past his lips and down his chin in a waterfall, as though a dam had just broken. He knew that he was dying, but for some reason, he didn't care anymore. Keisuke had died because of him, so perhaps he too deserved to die. His thoughtless words had pushed Keisuke to such heights of despair that his friend would take Line just to get stronger. As though that hadn't been bad enough, his cursed blood had then killed the only friend he ever had.

A warm hand stroked his cheek lightly and he ended up jerking in surprise; he'd forgotten Shiki was even there to begin with. The man had crouched down in front of him and he was staring at him with those blood-red eyes that Akira came to fear and despise from the bottom of his heart. Surprisingly enough, they didn't seem as cold as they'd been before. If anything, Shiki's gaze seemed rather soft and perhaps even mournful. "W-why?" he couldn't help but ask at the same time that he leaned further into the man's hand, his dying body seeking warmth regardless of what Akira thought of the man who had crushed his pride as a man to smithereens.

"Because I liked your defiance."

Shiki's answer almost made Akira laugh, but he didn't even have the strength to do such a thing anymore. "How s-stupid," he spoke in a faint voice. When Shiki's hand retracted, Akira's head fell down, and even though his vision was flickering, his eyes still caught sight of the blood pooling beneath his body and getting washed away by the rain. He was hoping to be left alone so that he could die in peace, but as if to take even such a small thing away from him, Shiki lifted him in his arms and started carrying him away. Akira no longer had the energy to fight back, so instead he resigned himself to his fate. It didn't matter what Shiki was planning to do with his body; such things were irrelevant. People lived and then they died, and that was it.

"None of this would've happened if only you had accepted me as your master," he heard Shiki's voice as the man's hold around him tightened.

"I b-be...long t-to no...one," Akira spoke defiantly in the face of his anathema. He thought he heard Shiki laugh, but he couldn't be certain, not when all he could see was pitch black and he could no longer feel nor hear the sounds of the rain pattering his face. As the very fabric of his thoughts turned to dust, he went quiescent, and the last word he clung to as his consciousness faded to darkness was the name of the friend he'd failed to save.

_Keisuke..._


End file.
